Episode 006
The Guest Artist: Painter David Tycho
The Host Artist: Carol McQuaid
The Bar: Milano Café
Current Gallery: South Main Gallery
Fire and Rain; A Journey to Extremes with Painter David Tycho
Listen in as David and I talk about:
-Studio spaces; his is a 1500 square foot artists dream in the coveted Parker Street Studios in Vancouver
-His current show Fire and Rain at the South Main Gallery featuring 19 of the 44 paintings from his current series
-Road tripping for artistic inspiration; David travels from Tofino to Death Valley to gather reference for the landscapes of Fire and Rain
-On his current work; I think I probably learned more about painting doing this series than I have learned in any other series Ive ever done
-Blending representational and abstract, the difference between figurative and figural, and how to know when a body of work is show ready
-His years in Japan; being inspired by calligraphic paintings and experimenting with a huge, mop-like brush
-The connection between painting and other creative ventures, and his 2001 Canadian Literary Award for an essay on Nevadaès Great Basin Desert.
-University years with instructors Jack Darcus and the legendary Gordon Smith
He shares great stories of his 25 years as a gallery artist, as well as one of my all time favourite quotes, from Japanese Printmaker Hokusai. Here it is in its entirety:
“From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was 50 I had published a universe of designs. But all I have done before the the age of 70 is not worth bothering with. At 75 I’ll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am 80 you will see real progress. At 90 I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At 100, I shall be a marvelous artist. At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign my self ‘The Old Man Mad About Drawing.” – Hokusai Katsushika
The inspiration artists mentioned in this episode: (links through the show website)
Jack Darcus
Gordon Smith
Willem de Kooning
Franz Kline
Robert Motherwell
Richard Diebenkorn
Hokusai
David Bowie’s Station to Station
And The Gordon Smith Gallery in North Vancouver